Category: Government

Callaghan Engineering were commissioned to provide the mechanical & electrical engineering design for a new gymnasium at Aiken Barracks, Dundalk, Co. Louth.

Aiken Barracks is home to the 67th Reserve Infantry Battalion of the Defence Forces. The gymnasium building has been purpose-built and includes a sports hall with playing courts, a fully equipped gym, male and female changing areas, shower areas and reception office.

Key mechanical and electrical features of the building are the installation of radiant heater panels at high level in the sports hall, variable air volume ventilation in the gym based on occupancy and lighting control in the form of presence detection throughout the building.

The radiant panels also incorporate fluorescent lighting to illuminate the space. A boxing ring lighting provision has also been included in the sports hall with a separate switching arrangement so that the primary lighting in the space can be switched off to allow for bouts.

Steeped in history, Castletown House in Co. Kildare is Ireland’s largest and earliest Palladian style house. It was built between 1722 and 1729 for William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, in whose family it remained until 1965. This magnificent country house is now in the ownership of the Irish State under the governance of the Office of Public Works. While the house had undergone some renovation previously, the OPW began extensive renovation and conservation works in the 1990’s.

Castletown House

Callaghan Engineering were appointed as the Mechanical & Electrical (including lift) Engineering Services Consultants for the refurbishment & conservation of Castletown House. The ground and first floors are designed to Museum Environment Quality, Class 2.

This project involved the design and installation of mechanical and electrical systems to conserve the fabric of the house and the artifacts displayed and stored therein. This required the design of a low-tech environmental system to control the relative humidity and temperature within the house, a building management system, discrete lighting and controls to effect low UV levels and colour rendering and smoke detection throughout, including a VESDA system. Museum grade HVAC requirements are maintained in a number of rooms. Within the building, ventilation ductwork was routed through the existing chimney flues with air handling units built into the top of the chimneys.

Today, Castletown House and it’s gardens are open to the public, and it remains one the finest examples of it’s type to be found anywhere in Europe.

A major tourism and heritage project is planned for the national monument on Spike Island in Cork Harbour. On completion it is expected that it will attract large numbers of day trippers to see first hand the island buildings and their history over several centuries where they have played host to a monastery, and a military fortress which was later converted into a prison.

To facilitate this new use a series of projects were conceived to upgrade, modernise and develop some of the buildings into museum and interpretive centres and also facilities to accommodate tourists such as bathrooms and café.